september opened. when it didn't go away, democrats panicked. just about everything that's said about romney's flailing campaign was said by democrats at this very point in 2004. look what happened in '04, kerry suddenly closed the gap. why? that's when the first debate was held. reviews of kerry's performance, you'll remember this if you watched it, is pretty strong. bush's, not so much. we remember kerry lost in 2004 but we tend to forget how close he came and the fact he owned the month of october. in that month the race was tight and kerry came close to pulling out a win in ohio that would have given him the presidency. not predicts mitt romney is going to buns back the same way now. i'm just pointing out how matter how bleak things look for him, he might. that does it for "the cycle" today. martin bashir, it's all yours. >> good afternoon, it's wednesday, september 19th. and mitt romney is ready to hit the reset button again. with just two weeks until the

first debate. ♪ >> you all but called them moochers. did you? >> no, i'm talking about a perspective of individuals who i'm not likely to get to support me. >> obama supporters are nothing but lazy parasites. get a job! >> if you want to be president, have you to work for all of those. >> two-thirds do pay payroll taxes. meaning they're working. they just don't work hard enough. >> this is a guy that doesn't obviously need to do this for a job. i mean, he honestly believes he can help many americans. >> you know, like a family of five making $50,000 a year. kak, the amount aka, the amount of money it take to see mitt romney [ bleep ] on them in person. >> i stand by whatever i said, whatever it was. ♪

>> we begin with mitt romney fully embracing his view of an america divided into makers and takers. a man who would be president writing off half the nation as pa parasitic free-loaders. despite widespread panic by fellow conservatives, despite outrage from more than the 47% of americans he insulted, mr. romney says his comments captured on that infamous videotape, are an accurate reflection of his campaign message. yes, that's what he said in an interview with, you guessed it, fox news. >> i'm going to get half the vote approximately. i hope -- i want to get 50.1% or more. i'm talking about a perspective of individuals i'm not likely to get to support me. i recognize those people who are

not paying income tax are going to say, gosh, this provision of -- that mitt keeps talking about, lowering income taxes, that's not real attractive to them. >> you know what else is not real attractive to them? portraying half the country as whaling infants, sucking at the federal teets who take no responsibility for their federal lives. never mind. it's not his job to worry about them. no. seniors on social security, wounded veterans, workers maimed on the job, those and other free-loaders are of no concern to him. but even as we got a glimpse of the real romney's revolting snobbery, the man in question, who is desperately trying to convince those who paid up to $50,000 a plate, that he does, he really does care about the common folk. >> the question of this campaign is not who cares about the poor and the middle class. i do. he does. the question is, who can help the poor and the middle class? i can. he can't. he's proven it in four years.

>> yes, well, the problem is, even your own conservative cronies are not buying it. peggy noonan in t"the wall stret journal" rights, it's time to admit the romney campaign is an incompetent one. it's not big. it's not brave. it's not thoughtfully tackling great issues. an intervention is in order. mitt, this isn't working. lindsey graham today, quote, i think what romney needs to do is get into virginia and run for sheriff. this is not rocket science. lord romney, call your butler and demand that he polish your spurs. let's get right to our panel now. with us in new york, democratic strategist professor bob schrum and richard wolffe, and david corn, autser of best selling "showdown," just out in paper back. mr. romney and mr. ryan are trying to suggest that an insult to half the nation was actually

a philosophical statement of difference between their ticket and the president. do you buy stage two in their tale of the tape, the tape you brought to the nation's attention? >> thank you, martin. thank you for pitching the book for me. >> pleasure. >> this is really a grand game of bait and switch here. there is a debate to be had. you read "showdown" and it's interesting, i wrote that barack obama -- i guess mitt romney, too -- wanted this campaign to be one about clashing values between, you know, over the role of government, community action, individual liberty, tax rates and all that stuff. that's sort of what we're getting. but what mitt romney said at that may 17th fund-raiser was not about policy or ideological difference. i mean, the great thing about this story is that people can go and just look at the tape again and again and again and see that he was dismissing everyone who votes for obama. all 47% of the american elector

rat -- >> that's not true. he was dismissing a large number that vote for him. >> he said 47% of the country is with obama and these are -- they're free-loaders. they don't care about themselves. they don't take -- >> they don't pay federal income tax. >> and then he conflated it. i mean, it's kind of ludicrous. now he's saying, i merely meant to say, you know, about -- we needed a debate about entitlements. that isn't what he was saying there. he was dismissing in a disdainful way half the country and he's still having country, a couple days later, digging out. as he quasi apologizes, saying he put it inelegantly but then says, this is what i meant. >> they tried endlessly to suggest this president wants to create a uniform level of

peasantry where the free-loaders flourish and the entire population becomes dependent upon government. i ask you this, is mitt romney perhaps confusing north korea for north america? >> yeah, look, even that liberal icon, karl rove, has pointed out the obvious here, is that hard working seniors, people that have paid their taxes all through their working life and reached the point where they're taking a social security check, they would fit into this 47%. by the way, they vote. and there are republicans and democrats in that group. so, not smart. not accurate. i also want to point out something we heard from mitt romney just in that fox interview. it's not just his analysis of america that is offensive and disdainful and everything else. his approach to politics is incredibly transactional. what you just heard in that fox interview was, people won't vote for me because they're not getting something from my tax cut. that's an incredibly small view of how politics operates. >> this is a tiny view of the

presidency. you don't lead a nation's people. you simply give them tax cuts. >> you give them tax cuts and then they will vote for you. >> even george w. bush didn't approach things like that. >> that's a great point. it's how a ceo or a bain consultant would look at the job. >> professor, lindsey graham says romney needs to stop spending his time doing fund-raisers in utah, texas, all these other places and go out and do retail politics. isn't that the problem for this man? he is actually a brilliant fund-raiser, but he's a hopeless politician. >> he spent his life raising money to put into these deals. he also, if you watch that tape -- david, it's extraordinary you got it, an amazing piece of tape. i've never seen anything like it in politics. the man is finally saying something on there that sounds like he has genuine conviction about it. he's comfortable with those folks who pay 50,000 bucks apiece, he's fluent, his body language is easy.

this is who he really is. he also revealed about how he thinks of people. he put them in this category, i'm not going to give them a tax cut, so they don't care. in the process, he decides that granny is a grifter. all those seniors who are on social security and don't pay taxes anymore, paid taxes all their lives. and i guess soldiers are slackers. we now know why he didn't mention the troops and veterans in his acceptance speech. it wasn't just that he forgot them. if you're a soldier in a combat zoerngs you don't pay income taxes. if you're a vet, you go to the va. you're in that 47%. >> you're a free-loader. >> we don't know if he paid income taxes because he won't tell us. >> of course not. >> i think this is an indefensible statement, a political catastrophe. you're seeing republican senate candidates fleeing him. you're seeing more and more polls come out that say that the senate is probably getting out of reach of the republicans. i think that's partly because of the ambience that romney is creating. and i think over time we're going to see more and more

distance in the polls between -- the president can't win by more than five or six but now i think he can win by five or six. >> david, latest polls are another dismal sign for romney. down eight points in a new pew poll. six in wisconsin, four in virginia, close call in colorado where the first debate will be held in two weeks from tonight. doesn't this rather raise the stakes for him? >> listen, every day that he's not talking about the economy and how bad it is and how he can do better than barack obama, is a bad day for him. he's running out of time. you know, there's a clock ticking here on this election. now, you know, i'm not as, you know, optimistic or -- about barack obama's chances as bob is. i still think it's going to be 50/50 down to the wire. the debates could have, may not, but could have a big impact -- >> to be fair, bob wasn't being optimistic. he was quoting the polls. he was saying the polls are pointing in this direction. >> that's true. i think they can move back.

there's still a lot to go here. but mitt romney, with the libya mess last week, with the tape this week, the politico story, everything, he's just running out of time to convince people that he's human and that he knows how to -- >> he doesn't have -- >> -- he actually has policy details to put in place. >> what he doesn't have is a campaign anymore. he has a permanent damage control operation at odds with itself. and unless they break that, and unless they get to some big message -- by the way, i'm skeptical they can sell an economic message. their their only economic message was if you kind of feel bad, you don't think things are going well, blame him and give me a try. i think we move past that. i think the president has turned this into a choice. whose policies are going to help the economy by favoring the middle class. who favors the few. the middle class going to pay more in taxes so people at the top pay less. so, i think, david, if he goes out and campaigns on his real economic problem, he would actually hurt himself. >> richard -- >> can't get much worse.

>> final chance to you. he's got two weeks to this debate. let's just look at his performance so far. he insult the the british. he was premature in his performance. he was premature in his intervention in libya. dismisses half the population as free-loaders. he invites clint eastwood to insult the office of the presidency. how is he going to do in two weeks? >> i think you set the bar where it is, incredibly low. he'll look more presidential standing next to a president. the president looks less than presidential because he's standing next to mitt romney. typically presidents get impatient because it's like why on earth do i have to debate this man for this long because he's clearly an idiot. why can't people do that. you know, they don't like it. it takes them out of their bubble. mitt romney has been prepping for this for months now. i think he will do better than expected because expectations are so low. but the debate won't change a lot. john kerry was a supremely good

debater. george w. bush was a terrible one. still couldn't even up that race. >> david, final word to you. >> well, i've talked to one top obama person who says that he, indeed, is worried about the debates for the same reasons that richard just put out there. you know, the president does get impatient when he doesn't think someone is giving him a smart, straight answer. the first debate they're going to have almost 15 minutes each to go around these issues. and if the president gets pandantic or disrespectful in terms of how he approaches mitt romney, it could be a problem for him. it's going to be very interesting to see. i do think the bar is really low. mitt romney did well in the republican debates. he may not do so bad in these. >> david corn, professor shrum, richard, thank you. mitt romney's amnesia when it comes to welfare and his own family. stay with us. >> would he leaf, welfare relief for the first years of his life, but this great country gave him opportunities.

>> oh, my god! george romney was on welfare, so according to mitt romney's own logic, mitt romney could not win the vote of his dad. ♪

[ male announcer ] it started long ago. the joy of giving something everything you've got. it takes passion. and it's not letting up anytime soon. at unitedhealthcare insurance company, we understand that commitment. and always have. so does aarp, an organization serving the needs of americans 50 and over for generations. so it's no surprise millions have chosen an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they help cover some of the expenses medicare doesn't pay. and save you up to thousands in out-of-pocket costs. to find out more, request your free decision guide. call or go online today. after all, when you're going the distance, it's nice to have the experience and commitment

to go along with you. keep dreaming. keep doing. go long. constipated? yeah. mm. some laxatives like dulcolax can cause cramps. but phillips' caplets don't. they have magnesium. for effective relief of occasional constipation. thanks. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'.

instead of realizing that an insult demands an apology, especially when you've denigrated half the population, mitt romney has chosen instead to keep digging. after he was caught on tape referring to average americans as victims, entitled, smearing retirees and the working poor as a feckless band of free-loaders,

the great divider took to his favorite television network in an attempt to find some comfort for his views. the only problem is that mr. romney still can't get his message straight on taxes, retirees and who pays what. >> well, first of all, of course you're right. there are a number of retirees, members of the military and so forth who aren't paying taxes. a lot of seniors pay income tax. >> contrast that with the president, who roughly the same sometime was taping a segment with david letterman, that had no such messaging problems. >> i've -- i promise you, there are not a lot of people out there who think they're victims. there are not a lot of people who think they're entitled to something. i think what the majority of people, democrats and republicans believe, we've got some obligations to each other and there's nothing wrong with us giving each other a helping hand. >> joining us now is democratic congressman james clyburn of south carolina. good afternoon, sir.

>> good afternoon. thank you for having me, martin. >> thank you, sir. your district is home to a good number of military personnel, some of whom likely make too little money to pay federal income taxes. how do you feel when you hear mr. romney refer to your constituents as people who, quote, feel entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. >> you know, i'm now beginning to understand exactly why they did not mention the military at all when they had their convention. i now understand why today the senate failed to do the bill of rights -- i'm sorry, the job quote for veterans returning from afghanistan and iraq. these people seem to have no sensitivity to the people who get up every morning, work hard. the people who go out and secure us, our policemen, our firefighters, the people who go

off to war to keep us safe and secure in this country. their sensitivity seemed not to be there for these kind of people. >> but, congressman, mr. romney's position on virtually everything is to do nothing. on foreclosures, leave the housing market to collapse. auto industry, let it go bankrupt. why on earth do you think he wants to become president? >> that's the thing that is sort of puzzling to me, except that maybe he's just interested in being a resume-builder. he would love to be president of the united states. he doesn't want to really give service to the country. he doesn't want to give a contribution to the country. he doesn't want to protect the people. he wants the title, to be president. and that goes down as a part of who and what his resume was all

about when he passed this way, as they say, in my church. the fact of the matter is, mitt romney seems not to be in touch with ordinary people who work hard every day, people who earn income. you know, the earned income tax credit, which allows a working family not to pay taxes, is a republican program. >> absolutely. was milton friedman's idea. it was paul ryan's guru who recommended that as an ideal incentive for the working poor. and yet now they treat these people with contempt. >> absolutely. i mean, ronald reagan said it was the best anti-poverty program going when he expanded the program after signed into law by president ford. so these are real good, make work pay kind of programs that

romney seemed to be disdainful of. i don't quite understand that except he may feel that his only purpose in life is to take care of those with whom he has hobb-knobbed with all his life. that's not why we come to washington. we come to washington to uplift the lives of the people who sent us here. hopefully at some point in the not too distant future mr. romney will get in touch with that reality. certainly escapes him -- >> if i may. i want to take you back to something you just said. you just said on our air that mr. romney is building his resume. that the office -- >> yes. >> -- the office of the president is something that can be added to his curriculum vitaes as ceo of bain, governor of massachusetts. i mean, do you really believe that, sir, that he has absolutely no interest in service, it's all about what the country can do for his resume?

>> that's exactly what i feel. and if he has a different notion, he ought to be laying out some kind of vision for his service. i think people are crying out, wanting to know exactly what it is that we will be getting if we were to elect you. he seems to say, trust me, i'm going to be there for you. well, in this instance, i'm a ronald reagan democrat. yes, trust but verify. and that's what we can't seem to get from this candidate. not even on his taxes. trust me, i paid my fair share. let's verify whether or not you did. let's take a look at your tax records before you decided to run for president. so we'll know whether or not you ought to be trusted. >> congressman james clyburn of south carolina. thank you so much, sir, for joining us. >> thank you so much for having me. coming up, why is mitt romney so afraid of the women on "the view"? stay with us.

>> thank you. finally a candidate with the courage to say half of all americans are free-loaders who believe they're entitled to food. what do they think, food grows on trees? no. we job creators know there is no such thing as a free lunch. lunch is $50,000 a plate. oh no, not a migraine now. try this... bayer? this isn't just a headache. trust me, this is new bayer migraine. [ male announcer ] it's the power of aspirin plus more in a triple action formula to relieve your tough migraines. new bayer migraine formula. in a triple action formula to relieve your tough migraines. when you take a closer look... ...at the best schools in the world... ...you see they all have something very interesting in common. they have teachers... ...with a deeper knowledge of their subjects.

as a result, their students achieve at a higher level. let's develop more stars in education. let's invest in our teachers... ...so they can inspire our students. let's solve this. now we need a little bit more... a little bit more vanilla? this is great! [ male announcer ] at humana, we believe there's never been a better time to share your passions... because the results... are you having fun doing this? yeah. that's a very nice cake! [ male announcer ] well, you can't beat them. [ giggles ] ohh! you got something huh? whoa... [ male announcer ] humana understands the value of spending time together that's a lot of work getting that one in! let's go see the birdies. [ male announcer ] one on one, sharing what you know. let's do it grandpa. that's why humana agents will sit down with you, to listen and understand what's important to you. it's how we help you choose the right humana medicare plan for you. because when your medicare is taken care of,

you can spend more time sharing your passions. wow. [ giggles ] [ male announcer ] with the people who matter most. i love you grandpa! i love you grandma! now you're a real fisherman. [ male announcer ] humana. on december 21st polar shifts will reverse the earth's gravitational pull and hurtle us all into space. which would render retirement planning unnecessary. but say the sun rises on december 22nd,

and you still need to retire. td ameritrade's investment consultants can help you build a plan that fits your life. we'll even throw in up to $600 when you open a new account or roll over an old 401(k). so who's in control now, mayans? ♪ [ male announcer ] introducing a stunning work of technology. introducing the entirely new lexus es. and the first-ever es hybrid. this is the pursuit of perfection. white house press secretary jay carney used today's briefing to slam mitt romney for suggesting there was nothing to be done to solve the israeli/palestinian conflict. >> leadership is about acknowledging the difficulty of the challenges you face and trying to tackle them. it is not preemptively announcing that they're too

hard, so why bother. >> nbc's mike viqueira joins us from the white house. what did mr. carney have to say something about mr. romney's kick the can down the road. >> reporter: if you put aside all of governor romney's unforced errors and own goals, if you will, over the course of the last weeks and several weeks, especially on foreign policy, and just look at the power of the presidency that is on display here, the power of the incumbency -- look at today. let's talk about what's about to happen in the white house. aung san suh chi, under house arrest, awarded gold medal, finally coming to washington. she got her gold medal today in a ceremony that just wrapped up in the capitol and we'll have that oval office photo op with the president.

we'll see still photographs of that today. couple that with the president presiding over that solemn ceremony, repatriation of those heroes who died in benghazi. then you look at what mitt romney has done, peggy noonan and other conservative commentators are calling small and tinny, the tone he's taken over the last few days. you see the president doesn't really have to go after mitt romney, although certainly he has gotten in his jibes, most recently on david letterman last night, but lets everybody else savage his opponent in the days leading up to the debate. >> mike viqueira, thanks. we'll be right back. [ "odd coup] humans -- even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why, at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement

and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ there's another way to help erase litter box odor. purina tidy cats. only tidy cats has odor erasers. making it easy to keep things at home... just the way you want them. tidy cats with odor erasers.

from romney damage control to a colburn/stewart double team. the here are today's "top lines."

>> what a day. >> what a week. >> i wanted to get 50.1% or more. >> they're all free-loaders sucking off the teet of the rich. let's leave kate middleton out of this. >> it's not elegantly stated. >> perhaps i made a honey boo boo. >> he was inab arctic lat. >> you all but called them moochers. >> no, i'm talking about individuals not likely to support me. >> even though you didn't vote for me, i'm going to work as hard as i can as your president. >> are there no fair questions about the distribution of wealth. >> it's fine to talk about those things in quiet rooms. >> he believes every american has to have skin in the game. >> this could have been, could be the opportunity. >> donald trump said they have to get tough, referring to your campaign. >> i always appreciate his counsel. >> this is a guy that doesn't obviously need to do this for a job. >> romney, 9.0. how did the reboot go? >> liberal hounds went after mitt like a poor person going after a basic need.

>> nearly two-thirds do pay payroll tax. meaning they work, they just don't work hard enough. >> mitt's core message with a little more pen after. >> a family of five making $50,000. aka, the amount of money it takes to see mitt romney [ bleep ] on them. >> there's no such thing as a free lunch. lunch is $50,000 a plate. >> it's so sad. stop being a mistake. >> you're going to make mistakes on the campaign trail. people want to make sure you're not writing off a big chunk of the country. >> what a ivy league, society -- >> not a lot of people out there think they're victims. not a lot of people think they're entitled to something. >> i have a terrific campaign. >> we'll get this fixed by november 6th, aren't we? >> let's get to our panel now. we're joined by "new york times" best selling author craig unger whose new book is "boss rove:

inside karl rove's secret kingdom of power," joy reid, and julian epstein. is mr. romney now such a poorly performing candidate that karl rove is likely to say, you know what, let's forget about the presidency and let's go for seats in the house and in the senate? >> he's absolutely at the edge of that point. rove is the king-maker. he's king of the super pacs. he's put together about a billion dollars which he has to spend in the next few weeks. you're starting to see some money go to senate races, even some of the congressional races from the american crossroads and other super pacs. meanwhile you can also see rove trying to shake up things in the romney camp. the fall guy is a man named stewart stevens. a lot of critical stories trying

to blame him for the miscue. >> of course, he was responsible for the clint eastwood escapade. there's still time for romney to become a human being, perhaps even a decent presidential candidate. but it's only two weeks. it's only two weeks till the first debate. does he have enough time? >> well, not -- well, that's going to be difficult because the other issue that's sort of come out recently is that romney had some money stumbles, right, during the primary phase of the campaign. so he's still furiously fund-raising. he's spending so much time in front of $50,000 a plate donors that he's not spending a lot of time, to peggy noonan's point in her column, he's not spending time talking to people. in order to humanize himself he has to do more media that isn't fox news, because he's already got those voters, or go out on the campaign trail. can he assemble a crowd of enthusiastic people who will wave the flag for mitt romney? i don't know if he can do that before he does something really powerful in a debate. >> mr. romney's handlers aren't going down without a fight and

they're getting plenty of systems from their surrogates at fox news. let's take a listen. >> you said that your wording might have been inelegant. you all but called them moochers. did you? disdainfully wrote off half the nation. how do you respond to that? that 47% figure s it too high? what's an acceptable level. governor mitt romney, thank you very much. >> thanks. >> julien, how do you bounce back from a journalistic thrilling grilling like that? >> well, let's see, if you were an investor at bain capital, this is probably a venture that you would not get behind. you just look at the metrics of this campaign. it's not just the misstatements on the 47% where he insulted half the electorate, it's not just ryan didn't get a bounce from that, a bad convention, the misstatements on libya. it's the fact that for the last 12 weeks he has not had one single good week yet. if you begin to look at the electoral map, to go to your question, martin, it becomes a very, very daunting map for

romney. if he doesn't win ohio and he doesn't win florida. winning both of those are increasingly unlikely, then it's very hard for him to win the presidency. he would have to run the tables on all the other races. the question about where rove puts his money? you're starting to see reverse coattail effect. if you look at senate races in maine, in massachusetts, in virginia, where cain has about a seven or eight point lead, in florida, in new mexico, all around the country, it seems very, very unlikely the republicans are going to take the senate and -- and as recently as two weeks ago, it looked like it was very doable for them. so, you're beginning to see a reverse coat tail effect. this is becoming -- you hear a lot of republicans and republicans are split on this, but a lot of republicans are starting to write the obituary on this campaign right now. >> do you think rove will get to a point publicly where his silence, in terms of supporting romney, will be so withering that it will be obvious he's completely out of this?

>> well, already his statements have been pretty noncommittal and not terribly strong backing romney. it's very hard for him to do so. as julien said, you see people like scott brown in massachusetts, distancing himself. and he's getting american crossroads' money. that's an important race for them. >> joy, this one's for you. a deep cut from the romney basement tapes. we have it for you. here is mr. romney talking about all those very aggressive sharp-tongued ladies of "the view." take a listen. >> high risk because of the five women all along are conservative. four are sharp-tongued and not conservative. whoopi goldberg in particular. last time on the show she said to me, you know what, i think i could vote for you. i said -- i must have said something really wrong. >> how can we trust mitt romney to protect america from internal terrorists when he's afraid of

whoopi goldberg? >> yeah, what did she do to him? why did he pick her out? part is the way he says things, sharp-tongued ladies. like a 1950's quality. and he said also he wanted to leave his inheritance to his sons. cutting the wives out. he has a way of talking about women that's very old fashioned. it's not helpful. "the view" is very popular -- >> he needs something at this point. >> he needs something so it's not a good idea. >> thank you to all of you. stay with us. much more ahead. >> we do not have to have the kind of divisiveness and bitterness and recriminations we've seen over the last four years. i will bring us together. >> you all but called them moochers. did you? >> no, i'm talking about a perspective of individuals who i'm not likely to get to support me.

we use this board to compare car insurance rates side by side so you get the same coverage, often for less. that's one smart board. what else does it do, reverse gravity? [ laughs ] [ laughs ] [ whooshing ] tell me about it. why am i not going anywhere? you don't believe hard enough. a smarter way to shop around. now that's progressive. call or click today. [ grunting ] presidethis message. barack obama and i approve... anncr: he keeps saying it... mitt romney: this president cannot tell us that you're... better off today than when he took office. anncr: well... here's where we were in 2008... tv anncr: the worst financial collapse... since the great depression... tv anncr: american workers were laid off in numbers not seen... in over three decades. anncr: and here's where we are today... thirty months of private sector job growth. creating 4.6 million new jobs. we're not there yet.

but the real question is: whose plan is better for you? the president's plan asks millionaires... to pay a little more... to help invest in a strong middle class. clean energy. and cut the deficit. mitt romney's plan? a new 250,000 dollar tax break for... multi-millionaires. roll back regulations on the banks that cratered the economy. and raise taxes on the middle class. president clinton: they want to go back to the same old... policies that got us in trouble in the first place. president obama: we're not going back, we are moving forward. anncr: forward.

and you learned something along the way. this is the age of knowing what you're made of. so, why let erectile dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. 20 million men already have. ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. this is the age of taking action. viagra.

talk to your doctor. see if america's most prescribed ed treatment is right for you. america's heartland certainly seems to be warming up to the president's re-election campaign. according to the latest nbc poll, he enjoys an advantage among midwestern voters of 12 percentage points over mitt romney. the two men had been running pretty much neck and neck in that region of the country. even in wisconsin, once thought to be a toss-up, thanks to favorite son paul ryan, we see the president pulling away once again. there's still 48 days to go in this election. midwesterners will have a lot to say about it's outcome. we're join the by senator sherrod brown, democrat from the great midwestern state of ohio. good afternoon, sir. >> thank you. good to be back. thanks. >> now, you're locked in one of the most important senate races in the country right now. i wonder if you could tell us how mitt romney's secret video

is affecting that race and how the vast majority of your constituents respond to his analysis that they are dependent, entitled and victims. >> i think -- i don't know. i mean, i don't know precisely because i haven't talked to people a whole lot. i was in the state last week, as i always am on weekends and when i'm not here. but i think that people -- it plays into the whole perception that, you know, my opponent, mitt romney, the republicans of 2012, want to do more tax cuts for the rich and their theory is it trickles down. we tried that from 2001 to 2008 and it didn't work. instead, you know, you focus on the middle class and growing out that way. that's a foreign concept to mitt romney and to a number of republicans. and i think that's why the voting numbers are starting to shift our way. >> but those comments, sir, were made by mr. romney at a $50,000 a plate dinner for his donors. one assumes these are just the kind of donors who are throwing

money against you to the tune of $18 million in the form of out-of-state donations, all designed to win your seat. >> yeah, that's right. i mean, there has been more money spent against me than any money in the country. it's $18.2 million. it's disclosed. we assume it's wall street money that doesn't like my legislation to break up banks or chinese for outsourcing corporations money because they don't like my legislation to level the playing field on currency, which will clearly bring millions of jobs and manufacturing to our country. but, you know what, i mean, this kind of money is what they're banking on. they don't win the arguments. they know the american public doesn't like trickle down economics. they're spending literally millions, outspending us five to one. the way we fight back in so many ways is grassroots. i ask people to come to sherrodbrown.com, my website, sign up, help us fight back.

we win these races by individual people speaking out. you know, not by outspending, not this top-down stuff. that really is why i'm optimistic for me and for the president and for a lot of my -- for people that want to move the country in the right direction. >> right. you talk about, sir, winning the argument, aside from the cash, but your opponent in this election has been described, and i'm quoting, as the biggest fat-checking violators in the entire state of ohio. does that mean he gets some kind of trophy or something for not telling the truth? >> well, it's the cynical view of politics now. it's been -- don't pay much attention to the print media. it's sort of the karl rove way of business now. don't pay much attention to the print media. take positions that big money people want, spend money telling things that aren't true, but if you spend enough on television, that almost doesn't matter. our campaign is about ideas. it's about grass roots.

it's about focus on the middle class, auto rescue, enforcing trade laws because that's brought steel jobs and tire jobs and aluminum jobs to ohio when you stand up for the middle class. that's why grassroots effort through sherrodbrown.com, if you want to help, is the way that we're going to win this year and a way that a lot of my colleagues are going to win that reject this trickle down economics and want to move forward. >> sir, that's twice you mentioned the website. i welcome you for doing so. republicans keep telling us this president has done absolutely nothing to improve the economy. what's your experience in ohio? >> labor -- day i was walking down the street from people from a couple of plants in toledo. they go back to 2008 and how scared they were. one plant was down to 400 workers. now it's up to 1900 because of the auto rescue. people can look to the future with anticipation and excitement instead of fear and anxiety.

and that's really what it's all about. our unemployment rate four years ago -- three years ago was -- got up to 10.6%. now it's under 7.3%. and that's because of the auto rescue. it's because there's a focus out of washington for a change, there's a focus on the middle class. that's how you grow the economy, from the middle class out, not from trickle down economics. people sense that. it's not good enough, not nearly enough jobs yet, wages aren't going up enough but we're going in the right direction instead of back four years ago when we were losing -- this country was losing hundreds of thousands of jobs a month. >> senator sherrod brown, thank you for joining us, sir. >> thank you very much. >> much more ahead. stay with us. let's see if we can get one past the defense. hut! go! here it comes! right on the numbers! boom! get it! spin! oh, nice hands! chest bump. ugh! good job, man. nice! okay, halftime.

now, this is my favorite play. oh! i'm wide open. oh, fumble. fumble. don't want to fumble any of these. [ male announcer ] share what you love, with who you love. kellogg's frosted flakes. it's up... and it's good! good?! they're grrreat!

mitt romney has just landed in florida -- i'm sorry, miami, florida, where in less than two

hours he'll appear before actual voters for the first time since friday. of course,ist been a rocky stretch since. meantime, french embassies and schools have been on high alert after a magazine chose to publish cartoons that mock muslims. still appears to be some hope pags are cooling across the region. and then you have mitt romney, who's offering his version of leadership on the vital issue of peace between the israelis and palestinians. for that, well, we go back to boca. >> the palestinians not wanting to seek peace for political purposes. committed to the destruction and elimination of israel and these thorny issue -- thorny issues that i can say there's just no way. >> wait a minute. isn't that the same romney who said this during the primaries? >> in my view, it was

unacceptable, just to leave a bad situation and do nothing about it. and a lot of folks that look at problems and say, well, i'm going to king the can down the field. i wasn't willing to do that. >> extraordinary. brad woodhouse, communications director for the dnc and once again is shaking his head, wondering how it's possible for one man to have so many positions. i keep telling you, the man has equivalent positions of a five-headed monkey god. brad, on the spectrum of criticism -- sorry, on the spectrum of cynicism and pessimism, what kind of a stance is it for a presidential candidate to say that the palestinians don't want peace and there will never be peace in the middle east anyway. what kind of position is that for an international leader? >> i mean, it's extraordinary. look, we've seen, martin, this is a guy who can't even run an effective campaign. i can't imagine the american people are going to make him the leader of the free world. especially when he's saying stuff like that. i mean, look, he was talking to donors, he was talking to wealthy donors, people just like

mitt romney. and i think he said exactly what believes, that, you know, publicly he would pay lip service to peace in the middle east but in reality he would just kick the can down field. >> what is he supposed to do if he's elected and he meets mahmoud abbas of the palestinian authority, what does he say to him? >> that's exactly right. we have tried hard, i mean, american presidents of both parties have tried hard to be a broker for peace in the middle east. it's in everyone's interest. it's really in the interest of israel, which is our staunchest ally. but you can't be any type of broker if you've declared the whole thing over before it starts. and you've said that there's one side that's not willing to do anything. i mean -- >> in another gobsmacking clip from the $50,000 a plate fund-rais fund-raiser, mitt romney imagines himself as iranian ayatollah. listen to this. >> if i rn iran -- if i were

ir iran, crazed fantic, i'd say let's get a little fissile material. >> can you ever recall a presidential candidate offering strategies to terrorists. >> not at all. i think this whole videotape was breathtaking. writing off half the electorate has got the attention. this issue of foreign policy, his approach to it and what he was tolg say to these people is striking and probably needs to get a lot more attention. this is one who wants to have tens of thousands of troops back in iraq. i mean, the american people need to know, mitt romney wants to go back to war in iraq and he wants not to pursue the peace process. he even said in this video that if there was a traumatic situation involving the u.s. and foreign policy, he would try to take advantage of it politically. >> yes, indeed. >> we saw he tried to do that with libya -- >> it didn't go so well.

>> did not go well at all. >> brad woodhouse, thank you. i'm sorry we have to cut it short. right? get. out. exactly! really?! [ mom ] what? shut the front door. right? woop-woop! franklin delano! [ male announcer ] there's oreo creme under that fudge! oreo fudge cremes. now in two new flavors. his morning starts with arthritis pain. and two pills. afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain. so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rudy. who switched to aleve. and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ [ female announcer ] and try aleve for relief from tough headaches. oh, hey alex. just picking up some, brochures, posters copies of my acceptance speech. great! it's always good to have a backup plan, in case i get hit by a meteor. wow, your hair looks great. didn't realize they did photoshop here.

hey, good call on those mugs. can't let 'em see what you're drinking. you know, i'm glad we're both running a nice, clean race. no need to get nasty. here's your "honk if you had an affair with taylor" yard sign. looks good. [ male announcer ] fedex office. now save 50% on banners. with a vial and syringe. me, explaining what i was doing at breakfast. and me discovering novolog mix 70/30 flexpen. flexpen is pre-filled with your pre-mix insulin. dial the exact dose. inject by pushing a button. no vials, syringes or coolers to carry. flexpen is insulin delivery my way. novolog mix 70/30 is an insulin used to control high blood sugar in adults with diabetes. do not inject if you do not plan to eat within 15 minutes to avoid low blood sugar. tell your healthcare provider about all medicines you take and all of your medical conditions, including if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. most common side effects include reactions at the injection site, weight gain, swelling of your hands and feet,

and vision changes. other serious side effects include low blood sugar and low potassium in your blood. get medical help right away if you experience serious allergic reactions, body rash, trouble with breathing, fast heartbeat, sweating, or if you feel faint. i would have started flexpen sooner, but i thought it would cost more. turns out it's covered by my insurance plan. thanks to flexpen, vial and syringe are just a memory. ask your doctor about novolog mix 70/30 flexpen, covered by 90% of insurance plans, including medicare. find your co-pay at myflexpen.com. if we want to improve our schools... ...what should we invest in? maybe new buildings? what about updated equipment? they can help, but recent research shows... ...nothing transforms schools like investing in advanced teacher education. let's build a strong foundation. let's invest in our teachers so they can inspire our students.